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A  COMPARATIVE  STUDY 


OF    THE    POEM 


GUILLAUME  D'ANGLETERRE 


WITH    A 


DIALECTIC  TREATMENT  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPTS 


A  DISSERTATION 

PRESENTED   TO   THE  BOARD   OF  UNIVERSITY  STUDIES  OF 

THE    JOHNS    HOPKINS    UNIVERSITY     FOR    THE 

DEGREE  OF  DOCTOR  OF  PHILOSOPHY 


^ 


BY 


PHILIP    OGDEN 


Excerpts  from  the  above,  Printed  in  Accordance  with  the 
Regulations  of  the  University. 


BALTIMORE 
JOHN    MURPHY    COMPANY 

1900 


A  COMPARATIVE  STUDY 


OF    TilK    POEM 


GUILLAUME  D'ANGLETERRH 


WITH   A 


DIALECTIC  TREATMENT  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPTS 


A   DISSERTATION 

PRESENTED   TO   THE   BOARD    OF   UNIVERSITY   STUDIES   OF 

THE    JOHNS     HOPKINS     UNIVERSITY     FOR    THE 

DEGREE  OF  DOCTOR  OF   PHILOSOPHY 


BY 

PHILIP    OGDEN 


Excerpts  from  the  above,  Printed  in  Accordance  with  the 
Regulations  of  the  University. 


BALTIMORE 

JOHN     MURPHY     COMPANY 

1900 


CONTENTS. 


Page. 

Preface, v 

Introduction, 1 

Chapter  III.     Discussion  of  the  Relation  which  the  Various  Forms  of 

the  Legend  Bear  to  One  Another,     -        -        -         -  7 

Skeleton  Showing  a  Theoretical  Order  of  Derivation,     -  22 

Application  of  the  Scheme,        ------  23 

Table  of  Entire  Contents, 29 

Life, -----33 


254818 


A  COMPARATIVE  STUDY  OF  THE  POEM 
GUILLAUME  D'ANGLETERRE. 


PREFACE. 


In  Romania,  VIII,  p.  315,  Professor  Paul  Meyer  expressed 
the  hope  that  some  one  would  compare  the  version  of  the  poem 
of  GuUlaume  d'Angleterre  kept  in  the  Biblioth6que  Xationale  with 
that  which  he  had  discovered  in  the  St.  John's  College  Library, 
Cambridge,  and  publish  a  reconstructed  text.  The  ultimate  design 
would  be  to  decide,  if  possible,  upon  the  actual  author  of  this 
poem.  With  this  object  in  view,  I  obtained  a  copy  of  the  Paris 
manuscript  without  difficulty,  and  of  the  Cambridge  manuscript 
through  the  kindness  of  Miss  Lucy  Toulmin  Smith.  In  the 
summer  of  1896,  I  went  to  Cambridge  and  thence  to  Paris,  where 
I  collated  in  turn  the  manuscript  copies  which  I  had  with  the 
originals,  and  availed  myself  of  the  large  collections  of  books 
to  be  found  in  the  foreign  libraries.  In  the  Bibliotheque  de 
r Arsenal,  at  Paris,  I  found  another  manuscript  of  the  poem  on 
which  I  was  working  (which  proved,  however,  to  be  a  copy  of  the 
original  existing  in  the  Bibliotheque  Nationale),  made  for  L.  de 
St.  Palaye,  and  annotated  in  his  handwriting. 

After  having  pursued  my  work  for  several  mouths,  I  learned 
through  the  preface  to  the  edition  of  Erec  and  Enide,  which 
Professor  Foerster  published  in  1896,  that  the  well-known  editor 
of  Chrestien  de  Troyes  had  the  poem  GuUlaume  d' Angleterre 
practically  reconstructed,  and  was  holding  it  back  in  order  to 
publish  the  work  at  the  close  of  his  edition  of  the  longer  poems 
of  the  Champagne  author,  whom  he  regarded  as  the  undoubted 
source  of  the  GuUlaume. 

V 


vi  The  Poem  Guillaume  (T Angleterre. 

I  thereupon  turned  my  attention  to  a  comparative  study  of  the 
episodes  of  the  poem  and  to  a  dialectic  investigation  of  the  two 
manuscripts.  Work  had  been  done  already  on  portions  of  this 
field,  in  passing  reference,  but  it  had  never  been  treated  as  a 
whole.  Dr.  W.  L.  Holland,  in  his  monograph  on  Chrfetien  de 
Troyes,  had  mentioned  certain  German  and  English  analogues, 
and  D'Ancona,  in  his  discussion  of  OltineUo  e  Giulia,  had  made 
the  same  references,  with  an  additional  version  cited. 

The  story  of  St.  Eustathius  has  been  fully  discussed  by  H. 
Knust  in  his  book  entitled  Dos  Obras  didadicas,  y  das  Leyendas, 
so  that  I  speak  of  this  legend  and  its  various  forms  briefly. 
Where  the  analogue  to  which  I  would  draw  attention  has  been  in 
verse,  I  have  given  a  digest ;  but  where  the  original  has  been  in 
prose,  I  have  given  the  original  as  far  as  possible,  except  where 
this  would  prove  prolix. 

I  have  tried  to  verify  all  references  a  second  time,  and  believe 
that  the  citations  may  be  relied  on. 

I  have  arranged  the  first  division  of  my  work,  comprising  the 
analogues  and  derivatives  of  the  Guillaume  legend,  as  follows : 
The  stories  are  divided  into  two  large  divisions,  constituting  an 
Eastern  set  and  a  Western  set.  These  are  then  subdivided  :  first, 
according  to  locality  and  then  according  to  language;  for  instance, 
the  Romance  languages  would  form  one  group,  subdivided  farther 
on  the  basis  of  language.  In  my  discussion,  I  first  give  a  brief 
outline  of  the  story ;  then  a  tabulation  of  the  motifs  of  the  same ; 
then  I  draw  attention  to  the  resemblances  or  differences  existing 
between  the  story  under  consideration  and  the  others  of  the  same 
class,  or  of  another  group ;  finally,  1  add  the  references.  The 
bibliography  may  seem  scanty  in  places,  but  it  is  unavoidable  in 
such  a  case,  as  nothing  has  been  published  yet  to  be  recorded.  At 
the  close  of  each  group  I  add  a  table  of  motifs  for  all  stories  in 
that  subdivision,  and  at  the  close  of  the  entire  treatment  I  append 
a  table  of  the  entire  material  gathered.  Then,  in  a  short  r6sum6, 
I  strive  to  trace  the  develo})ment  of  the  original  from  Indian 
sources,  and  add  a  tree  giving  graphically  the  derivation  which  I 
believe  to  be  probable. 

The  second  division  of  my  work  first  treats  briefly  the  study  of 
the  poem  Guillaume  d'Angleten'e  which  has  been  previously  made. 


The  Poem  Guillaume  d* Anglderre,  vii 

discussing  rapidly  a  thesis  published  on  the  subject  by  Mr.  Rudolf 

Miiller.     After   dismissing   this,   I   study  the  Paris   manuscript 

linguistically,  with  the  intention  of  deciding  its  position  in  the 

dialectic  field.     After  this,  I  consider  the  Cambridge  manuscript 

in  the  same  manner.     The  question  of  the  original  language  of 

the   poem   is   treated   finally  under  "Common   Forms,"  where   I 

endeavor  to  decide  certain  points  in  regard  to  the  proper  reading, 

and  consequently  gather  some  information  about  the  author  of 

the  poem. 

P.  O. 


INTRODUCTION. 


The  legend  which  forms  the  basis  of  the  mediaeval  poem  entitled 
Le  DH  de  Guillaume,  Roi  iVAngleierre,  was  first  treated  by  Dr. 
Holland  in  a  small  monograph/  which  considers  the  different 
versions  of  the  story  that  forms  the  backgronnd  of  this  romance, 
as  it  appears  in  various  languages.  Some  years  later  (in  1878), 
Dr.  Herman  Knust  published  the  Spanish  renderings  of  the 
poem,  with  an  elaborate  introduction.^  This  edition  was  carefully 
reviewed  and  highly  commended  by  Dr.  Kohler,^  and  noticed  at 
length,  as  well,  in  the  Liferarisches  Centralblatt*  Since  this  time 
the  poem  has  been  the  subject  of  incidental  reference  in  connection 
with  similar  compositions,  as  La  Storia  di  OttineUo  e  Giulia,^ 
Torrent  of  Portyngale,^  for  which,  it  would  seem,  the  material 
had  been  based  on  the  same  original  as  that  of  Guillaume 
d'Angleten-e,  but  the  legend  itself  has  not  been  discussed,  nor 
considered  in  all  its  bearings. 

The  matter  of  the  text,  and  the  identity  of  the  author,  on  the 
other  hand,  have  frequently  given  rise  to  comment  and  difference 
of  opinion.  Konrad  Hofman  was  the  first  to  question  the  authen- 
ticity of  the  work,  believing  that  it  could  not  be  the  composition 
of  Chrestien  de  Troyes.  He  based  his  conclusions  on  the  style  and 
literary  tone  of  the  work.'^  In  1874,  Paul  Meyer  called  attention 
to  a  manuscript  of  the  poem,  which  he  had  discovered  in  the 
library  of  St.  John's  College,  Cambridge,  England.^  Some  years 
after  this  he  says  in  regard  to  his  discovery  :' 

^  Holland,  W.  L. — Creslien  von  Troyes,  pp.  64-77.     Tubingen,  1854. 

*  Knust,  Herman. — Dos  Obras  Didaclicas  y  dos  Leyendas  sacadas  de  Manuscrilos 
de  la  Biblioteca  del  Escorial,  pp.  158-406.     Madrid,  1878. 

'  Zeitschrift  fur  Romanische  Philologie,  III,  pp.  272-277.     Halle,  1878. 

*  Literarisches  Centralblalt,  No.  47,  Column  1543.     Leipzig,  1873. 

*  lyAncona,  A. — Poemetti  Popolari  Ilaliani,  pp.  393-452.     Bologna,  1889, 
*Adam,  E. — Torrent  of  Porlyngale.     London,  1887. 

''  Sitzungsberichlen  der  Miinchener  Akademie,  II,  p.  51.     1870. 
^Romania,  III,  p.  507.     Paris,  1874. 
9  Romania,  VIII,  p.  315.     Paris,  1879. 

1 


2  The  Poem  Guillaume  d' Angleterre. 

"  Une  nouvelle  edition  de  la  vie  de  Saint  Guillaume  serait  tres 
desirable,  non  seulment  parce  que  le  MS.  que  je  fais  connaitre 
permet  d'ameliorer  considerableraeut  le  texte  public,  mais  encore 
parce  que  I'ouvrage  lui-meme,  dont  la  source  n'a  pas  ete  deter- 
min^e  jusqu'  ici,  et  I'auteur  ordinaireinent  confondu,  mais  bien  a 
tort,  avec  Chretien  de  Troyes,  appellent  de  nouvelles  recherches." 

In  1881,  R.  Gr5sse,  in  a  study  of  the  figures  of  speech  in 
Chrestien  de  Troyes,  speaks  as  follows  :^ 

"Ein  bisher  Crestien  zugeschriebenes  Werk:  Guillaume  d'Ang- 
hterre  ist  unberiicksichtigt  gelassen,  weil  ich  die  Ueberzeugung 
gewonnen  habe  dass  dasselbe  nicht  von  Crestien  herriihrt.  Der 
urspriinglichen  Absicht,  in  einem  dritten  Theil  dieser  Arbeit  die 
angeregte  Frage  zu  beriihren,  konnte  hier  nicht  Raum  gegeben 
werdeu,  doch  soil  dieselbe  in  einer  bald  folgonden  besouderen 
Monographie  eine  nahe  Beleuchtung  finden." 

Professor  Wendelin  Foerster  expresses  himself  at  some  length 
on  the  question  in  the  introduction  to  his  edition  of  Cliges,  from 
which  I  make  an  extract :  ^ 

"Hierbei  ist  absichtlich  das  Wilhelmleben  ausser  Acht  gelassen 
worden,  nicht  etwa  deshalb,  weil  dasselbe  dem  Dichter  des  Cliges 
sicher  abgesprochen  werden  miisste.  Allein  die  ganze  Frage 
bedarf  einer  eingehenden  Untersuchung,  die  bis  jetzt  von  Keinem 
derjenigeu,  welche  die  Autorschaft  Christians  kurzer  Hand  zuriick- 
gewiesen  haben,  angestellt  worden  ist,  und  die  ich  in  der  Einleitung 
dieses  Schlussbandes  meiner  Christianausgabe  geben  werde.  Hier 
sei  nur  im  vornhinein  bemerkt,  dass  der  Einwand,  welcher  auf  die 
Verschiedenheit  des  Stoffes,  und  der  Darstellung  gebaut  ist,  nicht 
entscheidend  sein  kann:  erstere  erkliirt  eine  raogliche  Weise  spjiter 
eingetretene  Gesinnung.«iinderung  des  Dichters,  die  zweite  ist  die 
blosse  Folge  der  ersteren  :  so  dass  ein  Argument  dieser  Art  iiber- 
haupt  nur  von  sekundarem  Werthe  sein  konnte,  als  Stiitzte  eines 
anderen  positiven  Arguments,  wie  denn  ein  solches  die  Verschie- 
denheit der  Sprache,  durch  eine  Untersuchung  der  Reime  sicher 
gestellt,  u.  ii.  wiire." 

'Griisse,  R. — Der  Stil  Chrestiens  von  Troies;  in  Fi-anziisische  Sludien,  I,  pp. 
127-261.     Heilbronn,  1881. 
*  FoerBter,  VV. — Christian  von  Troyes,  Cliges,  Einleitung,  y.  i.     Ilnlle,  1884. 


The  Poem  Guiflaume  (VAngletenr.  3 

In  the  shorter  abridged  edition  of  the  Clifjes,^  Dr.  Foerstcr  adds 
the  promise  that  one  of  liis  pupils,  Rudolf  Muller,  a  student  at 
Bonn,  will  j)ui)lish,  ere  lon<2;,  the  results  of  his  researehes  on  the 
suhject.  The  material  appeared  three  years  later  as  a  dissertation, 
with  suggestions,  emendations  and  comments  throughout  from  Dr. 
Foerster.^  The  deductions  that  the  author  drew  from  the  proofs 
presented  would  seem,  at  first  sight,  to  point  to  Chrestien  de  Troyes 
as  tiie  undoubted  source  of  Guillaume  cV Angleterre.  This  thesis 
I  will  consider  below  in  its  proper  sequence. 

Paul  Meyer,  in  his  review  of  Cliges,^  notices  that  Professor 
Foei'ster,  contrary  to  the  opinion  expressed  by  other  distinguished 
scholars,  believes  that  Guillaume  d' Angleterre  was  written  by 
Ciirestien  de  Troyes.     M.  Meyer  continues  : 

"  II  faut  attendre  pour  discuter  cette  ojnuion  qui,  je  dois  le  dire, 
me  parait  peu  vraisemblable,  I'expositiou  qu'il  en  donnera  dans  le 
volume  oil  il  publiera  le  Guillaume.'^ 

Some  years  later  M.  Meyer  mentions  also  the  appearance  of  the 
monograph  by  Rudolf  Muller  :  * 

"Ce  travail  d'un  eleve  de  M.  Foerster,  aboutit,  comme  le  faisait 
pr^voir  ce  que  le  maitre  avait  ecrit  sur  ce  sujet,  a  presenter 
comme  indubitable  I'identite  du  Chrestien,  auteur  de  Guillaume 
d^  Angleterre  J  et  de  Chrestien  de  Troies.  La  demonstration  s'etend  a 
la  phon^tique,  a  la  rime  et  au  style:  Elle  doit  etre  completee  par 
une  etude  du  voeabulaire,  et  de  la  phraseologie  proprement  dite. 
Toute-fois  avant  d'en  regarder  le  resultat  comme  acquis,  il  con- 
vient  d'attendre  un  examen  contradictoire." 

The  bare  text  of  the  poem,  taken  from  two  of  the  French 
manuscripts,^'*  has  been  published  by  Francisque  Michel,  with  no 
attempt  at  emendations.^    These  two  versions  were  reprinted  a  few 

*  Foerster,  Wendelin. — Christian  von  Troyes,  Cliges,  Einleitung,  p.  viii.  Halle, 
1889. 

'  Miiller,  Rudolf. —  Unlersuehung  iiber  den  Verfasser  des  allframosischen  Dichtung, 
Wilhelm  von  England.     Bonn,  1891. 
'^Romania,  XIII,  p.  441,  note  1;  and  p.  442.     Paris,  1884. 

*  Romania,  XXI,  p.  139.     Paris,  1892. 

*  Bibliotheciue  Nationale,  Fond  Franyais,  Manuscript  375.     Paris. 
^Bibliotheque  Nationale,  Fond  Franyais,  Manuscript  24,432.     Paris. 
'Michel,  Francisque. — Chroniques  Anglo-Normandes,  III,  pp.  39-172.     Rouen, 

1840. 


4  The  Poem  Guillaume  d' Angleterre. 

years  later  by  a  London  editor/  The  present  monograph  will 
consider  the  question  of  this  poem,  Guillaume  cV Angleterre,  under 
two  heads.  The  first  will  deal  with  the  legend  on  which  the 
romance  is  based,  its  development,  and  the  different  forms  that 
the  fable  assumes;  the  second  will  bear  on  the  author  of  the 
work.  The  material  is  drawn  from  the  three  French  manuscripts, 
of  which  two  are  to  be  found  in  the  Bibliotheque  Nationale,^' ^  and 
the  third  in  Cambridge,  England,^  and  from  the  Spanish  version 
found  in  the  unique  edition  of  Dr.  Knust.^ 

Chapter  I. 

WESTERN  VERSIONS. 
Group  I. 

A.    FRENCH  VERSIONS. 

I.    Guillaume  d^ Angleterre. 

a).   Digest  of  the  poem.^ 

There  was  once  a  king  of  England  whose  name  was  William,  a 
most  noble  and  pious  man.  He  never  tired  of  doing  good,  and 
his  subjects  revered  him  greatly.  His  wife,  Gratiana,  vied  with 
her  husband  in  charitable  deeds,  and  was  universally  beloved. 
The  royal  pair  had  one  great  grief,  however ;  they  had  no  chil- 
dren. But  this  misfortune  finally  seemed  about  to  be  remedied,  as 
one  day  the  queen  informed  her  Lord  that  she  was  with  child. 
The  king  redoubled  his  care  of  her  health,  and  forbade  her  going 
to  early  Mass,  which  it  iiad  been  their  habit  to  attend  together. 
One  morning,  the  king  was  awakened  by  a  bright  light  and  a  clap 
of  thunder,  while  a  voice  commanded  him  to  arise  and  leave  his 

'Giles,  I.  A. — Scriplores  Rerum  Geslarum  Willelmi  Conquesioris,  jip.  179-297. 
London,  1845. 

*  Bibliotheque  Nationale,  Fond  Franpais,  Manuscript  375.     Paris. 

■'Bibliotheque  Nationale,  Fond  Franyais,  Manuscript  24,432.     Paris. 

^  St.  John's  College  Library,  CanibridKe,  England. 

*Kiuist,  Herman. — Dos  Obran  Didaclicas  y  dos  Leyendas  sdcudus  de  ^f(lnmc1•itoa 
de  la  Bihiiolecd  del  Eacorud.  Dalas  a  Luz  La  Socicdad  de  Bibliof(^las  Espanoles. 
Madrid,  1878. 

*Made  from  the  manuscript,  BibliothOque  Nationale,  Fonds  Franfais,  376,  and 
from  that  in  the  library  of  St.  John's  College,  Cambridge,  England. 


The  Poem  Guillaume  cV Anglelerre.  5 

kingdom,  as  tlie  Lord  was  about  to  prove  his  faitli.  When  the 
king  told  his  confessor  of  this  incident,  the  priest  advised  delay, 
as  the  manifestation  was  possil)ly  from  some  evil  source.  He  also 
suggested  that  the  king  should  make  amends  for  any  wrong  that 
he  might  have  done,  consciously  or  unconsciously,  and  should 
give  largely  to  the  Church.  The  king  followed  these  suggestions 
sedulously,  but  to  no  purpose,  for  he  heard  the  voice  a  second 
time,  and  still  a  third  time  on  successive  nights,  when  it  informed 
the  monarch  that,  as  a  punishment  for  his  delay,  he  was  to  be 
separated  from  his  wife  and  kingdom  for  twenty-four  years.  The 
king  rose  and  dressed  himself,  on  learning  this ;  but  the  queen 
had  heard  and  seen  all,  and  declined  to  be  left  behind,  so  together 
they  stepped  out  of  the  window  and  disappeared  in  the  forest. 
Great  was  the  distress  in  the  kingdom  at  the  disappearance  of  the 
royal  pair,  and  during  the  absence  of  the  lawful  rulers,  the  power 
was  left  with  a  nephew,  who  took  it  till  his  Uncle's  return. 

The  fugitives  wandered  hither  and  thither  till,  reaching  a 
hollow  rock,  the  queen  gave  birth  to  two  boys,  whom  the  king 
wrapped  in  the  skirts  of  his  coat,  cutting  off  the  pieces  with  his 
sword.  The  queen  was  famished,  and  in  search  of  food  and 
assistance,  the  king  came  to  the  seashore,  where  he  found  some 
sailors  who  had  just  finished  lading  their  vessel.  They  returned 
with  him,  and  finding  the  woman  of  great  beauty,  they  picked  her 
up  in  a  litter,  carried  her  to  their  ship,  and  sailed  off  with  her, 
leaving,  however,  a  purse  of  gold  as  indemnity  with  her  husband. 

The  king,  left  with  his  twins,  carried  one  to  the  seashore,  and 
putting  it  in  a  boat  there,  returned  for  the  other.  A  wolf  had 
seized  it,  however,  and  run  away  with  the  child.  The  babe  was 
rescued  by  a  company  of  merchants,  who  carried  it  with  them  to 
their  ship,  where  they  found  another  child.  Two  of  their  number 
spoke  for  the  children,  promising  to  rear  them  as  their  own.  The 
king,  in  the  meantime,  had  chased  the  wolf  till  he  fell  exhausted, 
then  he  returned  to  his  other  babe  that  he  had  left  at  the  shore. 
As  he  found  that  this  had  disappeared  as  well,  he  turned  back  to 
get  the  money  that  had  been  left  by  the  merchants  in  place  of  his 
wife,  but  a  bird  carried  it  off  before  his  eyes.  The  king  then 
wandered  through  the  forest  till  he  found  a  band  of  traders,  with 
one  of  whom  he  took  service. 


6  The  Poem  Guillaume  d'Angleterre. 

The  queen  had  been  taken  to  a  strange  town,  where  there  was  a 
custom  that  the  Lord  of  the  castle  took  whatever  merchandise  he 
chose  from  alien  vessels  as  harbor  dues.  In  this  instance  he  took 
the  queen  as  his  perquisite,  and  on  the  death  of  his  wife,  which 
followed  immediately,  made  her  his  Lady,  granting  her,  at  her 
request,  one  year's  respite  before  fulfilling  all  wifely  obligations. 
He  died  within  the  year,  and  she  was  left  in  power,  somewhat 
annoyed,  however,  by  the  attempts  of  a  neighboring  king  to  force 
her  to  marry  him. 

The  children  had  been  taken  to  the  same  town  and  had  grown 
up  together.  Their  royal  nature,  however,  shrank  from  pursuing 
the  trades  of  their  adopted  fathers,  and  they  were  driven  from 
home  in  consequence.  They  hastened  together  to  a  neighboring 
forest,  where,  transgressing  the  game  laws,  they  were  brought 
before  the  king,  who  took  them  into  his  employ,  where  they  did 
good  service  against  the  enemies  with  whom  he  was  warring. 

King  William  gradually  rose  high  in  the  estimation  of  his 
employer,  and  was  sent  to  various  lands  for  trading  purposes.  He 
went  to  Bristol,  England,  among  other  places,  and  learned  there 
that  the  people  were  only  waiting  his  return  to  receive  their 
former  king  with  open  arms.  As  he  was  returning,  he  was  driven 
by  a  storm  to  the  town  where  there  was  a  law  to  the  effect  that 
the  Lord  of  the  castle  was  entitled  to  his  choice  of  the  ship's  goods 
as  his  harbor  dues.  The  Lord  himself"  was  dead,  but  his  Lady 
came  down  to  the  boat,  and  by  a  ring  on  the  king's  finger,  which 
his  wife  had  given  him  previously,  recognized  him  as  her  hus- 
band. He  accompanied  her  to  the  castle  to  dinner,  and  after 
dinner,  while  hunting  a  stag,  he  was  lured  across  the  boundary  of 
the  Lady's  estates,  where  he  was  attacked  by  two  young  knights, 
who  were  there  on  guard.  As  he  was  witiiout  weapons,  he  told 
them  the  story  of  his  life  to  prove  his  royalty,  and  thereupon 
discovered  that  they  were  his  sons.  The  purse  of  gold  was 
miraculously  restored  by  heaven  to  make  tiie  ha})piness  complete, 
and  they  all  went  to  the  queen,  who  gave  her  property  to  the 
neighboring  Lord  in  return  for  his  kindness  to  her  children.  'J'he 
entire  family  then,  reunited,  returned  to  England,  where  they 
were  enthusiastically  received,  and  where  they  lived  long  lives  in 
the  fear  and  love  of  God. 


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V 

CHAPTER   III. 


Discussion  of  the  Relation  which  the  Various  Forms 
OF  THE  Legend  Bear  to  One  Another. 

For  convenience,  I  will  repeat  briefly  those- stories  with  which 
I  intend  to  deal  in  the  final  summary,  and  which  are  those  that 
will  appear  in  the  tabulated  scheme :  The  Dit  de  Guiltaume  Roi 
(V Anglderre,  to  which  I  shall  refer  as  the  Dit;  Helene  of  Con- 
stantinople, referred  to  as  Helhie ;  Ociavian ;  Beuve  (VHanston, 
referred  to  as  Beuve ;  Fioravante ;  Buovo  d'Antona,  referred  to  as 
Biiovo  ;  Uggeri  il  Danese,  referred  to  as  Uggeri ;  Die  Gute  Frau; 
Der  Graf  von  Savoien ;  Wilhelm  von  Wenden ;  the  two  Spanish 
versions,  which  1  refer  to  as  the  Estoria  and  the  Chronica,  for  the 
sake  of  brevity ;  Cifar;  the  English  Gesta;  Ysambrace;  Eglamour; 
Torrent ;  Speculum  Historiale  ;  Rhea  Sylvia  ;  Danae  ;  Latona  ; 
Dirce;  Tyro;  Shah  Bekht;^  The  Ten  Viziers;'''  Hebrew  Version; 
Hindoo  Version;  Kashmiri  Version;  Panjabi  Version;  Thibetan 
Version;   The  Forty  Viziers.^ 

For  the  better  understanding  of  the  relations  in  which  these 
various  adaptations  stand  to  one  another,  I  shall  divide  them  into 
groups,  for  which  the  basis  of  selection  will  be  the  introductory 
motif.  Of  these  introductory  motifs  there  are  two  broad  divisions, 
that  of  the  persecuted  wife,  and  that  of  the  man  tried  by  fate  or 
by  God.  Under  the  head  of  the  first  motif,  that  of  the  man  tried 
by  heaven,  I  place  the  following : 

'  By  this  I  understand  the  story  of  The  Kmg  Who  Lost  Kingdom  and  Wife  arid 
Wealth,  which  is  found  in  the  collection  known  as  King  Shah  Bekht  and  His  Vizier 
Er  Rehwan. 

*  By  this  I  understand  the  story  I  have  cited  previously  from  the  Ten  Viziers. 

'By  this  I  mean  the  tale  already  quoted,  which  is  taken  from  the  collection 
known  as  the  Forty  Viziers. 

7 


CHAPTER  III. 


Discussion  of  the  Relation  which  the  Various  Forms 
OF  the  Legend  Bear  to  One  Another. 

For  convenience,  I  will  repeat  briefly  those- stories  with  which 
I  intend  to  deal  in  the  final  summary,  and  which  are  those  that 
will  appear  in  the  tabulated  scheme :  The  Dit  de  GuiUaume  Roi 
d'Anglcterre,  to  which  I  shall  refer  as  the  Dil;  Helene  of  Con- 
stantinople, referred  to  as  Helene;  Odavian ;  Beuve  d'Hanstoiiy 
referred  to  as  Beuve  ;  Fioravante ;  Buovo  d'Antona,  referred  to  as 
Buovo  ;  Uggeri  il  Danese,  referred  to  as  Uggeri ;  Die  Gute  Frau  ; 
Der  Graf  von  Savoien ;  Wilhelm  von  Wenden ;  the  two  Spanish 
versions,  which  I  refer  to  as  the  Estoria  and  the  Chronica,  for  the 
sake  of  brevity ;  Cifar;  the  English  Gesta;  Ysambrace;  Eglamour; 
Torrent ;  Speculum  Historiale  ;  Rhea  Sylvia  ;  Danae  ;  Latona  ; 
Dirce ;  Tyro;  Shah  Bekht;^  The  Ten  Viziers;^  Hebrew  Version; 
Hindoo  Version;  KashmiH  Version;  Panjabi  Version;  Thibetan 
Version;   The  Forty  Viziers.^ 

For  the  better  understanding  of  the  relations  in  which  these 
various  adaptations  stand  to  one  another,  I  shall  divide  them  into 
groups,  for  which  the  basis  of  selection  will  be  the  introductory 
motif.  Of  these  introductory  motifs  there  are  two  broad  divisions, 
that  of  the  persecuted  wife,  and  that  of  the  man  tried  by  fate  or 
by  God.  Under  the  head  of  the  first  motif,  that  of  the  man  tried 
by  heaven,  I  place  the  following : 

'  By  tliis  I  understand  the  story  of  The  Kmg  Who  Lost  Kingdom  and  Wife  and 
Wealth,  which  is  found  in  the  collection  known  as  King  Shah  Bekht  ami  His  Vizier 
Er  Rehwan. 

*By  this  I  understand  the  story  I  have  cited  previously  from  the  Ten  Viziers. 

'  By  this  I  mean  the  tale  already  quoted,  which  is  taken  from  the  collection 
known  as  the  Forty  Viziers. 

7 


The  Poem  Guillaume  d^ Angleterre. 


A. 


Man  tried 
by  Fate. 


Dit, 

Estoria, 
Chronica, 
Gute  Frau, 
Graf  von  Savoien, 
Wilhelm  von  Wenden, 
English  Gesta, 
Ysam  brace, 
Speculum  Historiale, 


Hebrew  Version, 
Shah  Bekht, 
Forty  Viziers, 
Kashmiri  Version, 
Panjabi  Version, 
Hindoo  Version, 
Beuve, 

Thibetan  Version, 
Ten  Viziers. 


A  second  set  are  those  in  which  the  introductory  motif  is  that 
of  the  woman  unjustly  persecuted  by  false  accusation  or  by  the 
hatred  of  some  enemy.     Here  the  following  are  compared  : 


B. 


f  Helene, 
Injured  woman.  •<   Octavian, 


Rhea  Sylvia, 


Danae, 

Latona, 

Dirce, 


Tyro, 
Flora  van  te. 


A  third  set  might  be  a  variety  where  the  hero  is  a  knight  who 
loses  favor  with  his  sovereign,  and  is  so  slandered  that  he  leaves 
his  country  and  home,  of  his  own  accord  or  under  compulsion. 
Practically,  however,  this  head  is  comprised  under  A. 

C. 

^^  ,      ,  -if  Eo-lamour,       Cifar,         Buovo, 

Voluntary  exile.  {   ,„^  '        ,.       '         ^^        [ 

i  lorrent,  Beuve,       Uggeri. 

I  will  now  draw  another  line  through  the  stories,  and  group  on 
one  side  those  versions  in  which  the  mother  is  taken  by  sailors 
before  the  loss  of  the  children,  while  on  the  other  side  I  place 
those  adaptations  in  which  the  children  are  the  first  to  be  removed. 


D. 


Versions  in  which  the 
mother  is  taken  first, 
or  in  which  the  father  < 
disposes  of  the  chil- 
dren. 


Dit, 
Estoria, 
Chronica, 
(jute  Frau, 


Ten  Viziers, 
Jlobrew, 
Kashmiri, 
Panjabi, 


Wilhelm  von  Wenden,    Thilictan, 
lOiiglish  Gesta,  Ysambrace, 

^  Speculum  Historiale,       Beuve. 


The  Poem  Guillaume  d^ Angleterre. 


9 


In  the  set  of  versions  opposed  to  these,  I  place  that  form  of  the 
story  in  which  the  mother  and  children  are  left  together  till  the 
babes  are  curried  awav.     The  husband  is  al).sent. 


E. 


Versions  in  which  the  children 

are    taken    from  the    mother 

alone,    or    from  mother   and 
father  together. 


F. 


f  Helene, 
Octavian, 
Fioravante, 
Uggeri, 
Danae, 
Latona, 

^  Ysam  brace, 


Dirce, 

Tyro, 

Ilhea  Sylvia, 

Hindoo, 

Eglamour, 

Torrent, 

Shah  Bekht. 


Mother  and  children  taken  totrether. 


Forty  Viziers, 
Buovo. 


The  incident  of  the  seaport  to  which  the  ship  comes  with  either 
the  husband  or  wife  as  passenger  where  a  harbor  tax,  due  to  the 
ruler  of  the  land,  was  customary,  appears  mentioned  in  the 
following  : 


G. 


Customs  tax  mentioned. 


Dit, 
Estoria, 


Chronica, 
Shah  Bekht. 


The  same  tax  may  be  inferred  in  others  of  the  Eastern  group, 
inasmuch  as  the  detail  corresponds  to  that  of  *S7i«/i  Bekht  in 
every  respect  save  in  the  fact  of  the  explicit  mention  of  the 
custom  tax. 


H. 


Customs  tax  inferred.  -;    r.   ^.  ,  .    ' 
l  Panjabi, 


Hebrew. 


In  places  the  tradition  seems  confused  in  regard  to  the  number 
of  children  to  be  born,  and  this  is  given  at  times  as  one  and  again 
as  two. 


10 

I. 


The  Poem  Guillaume  d'Angleierre. 


Two  chil- 
dren born. 


K. 


Dit, 

Chronica, 

Estoria, 

Cifar, 

H6lene, 

Octavian, 

Beuve, 

Gute  Frau, 

Wilhelm  von  Wenden, 

Torrent, 

Fioravante, 

Buovo, 

Uggeri, 

Danae, 


Latona, 

Dirce, 

Tyro, 

Rhea  Sylvia, 

Shah  Bekht, 

Ten  Viziers, 

Hebrew, 

Forty  Viziers, 

Kashmiri, 

Panjabi, 

Speculum  Historiale, 

Ysambrace, 

Eng.  Gesta, 

Thibetan. 


One  child  born.  ^   „  ,        ' 

t  Eglamour, 


Manekine, 
Danae. 


In  general,  the  versions  which  give  one  child  to  the  heroine  are 
those  of  the  Hil^ne  group  that  have  been  influenced  by  La  Mane- 
kine ;  as,  Eglamour,  Genevieve. 

Another  distinction  which  may  aid  later  in  tracing  the  develop- 
ment of  the  story  is  that,  in  certain  of  these  reworkings  of  the 
constant  themes,  the  children  are  born  before  the  mother  is 
exposed,  while  in  others  the  children  are  born  after  the  exposure 
of  the  heroine  in  the  forest. 

L. 


Children  born  before  the 
heroine's  exposure. 


Cifar, 

Hebrew, 

Helene, 

Forty  Viziers, 

Octavian, 

Kashmiri, 

Fioravante, 

Panjabi, 

Uggeri, 

Speculum  Historiale, 

Danae, 

Ysambrace, 

Tyro, 

Eglamour, 

Rhoa  Sylvia,    Torrent, 
Shah  Bekht,     Eng.  Gesta, 
Ten  Viziers,     Thibetan. 


The  Poem  Guillaume  cV Angleterre. 


11 


M. 


Children  born  after  the 
heroine's  exposure. 


r  Dit, 

Chronica, 

Estoria, 

Beuve, 

Giite  Frau, 
^  Dirce, 


Hindoo, 

Tliibotan, 

Latona, 

Wilhelm  von  Wenden, 

Buovo. 


I  would  like  to  call  attention  to  one  more  variation  between 
certain  of  the  stories  towards  the  close  of  the  narrative.  In  one 
set  the  mother  recognizes  her  sons  and  addresses  them  before  she 
sees  or  recognizes  her  husband.  In  another  type,  she  recognizes 
her  children,  but  does  not  speak  to  them  until  she  has  gained 
an  audience  with  the  chief  ruler,  who  in  every  instance  is  her 
husband,  although  this  fact  is  not  known  at  the  time.  She  con- 
trives the  audience  with  the  king  by  some  ruse,  as  in  the  Eastern 
versions,  or  by  speaking  to  the  ruler  direct,  as  in  the  Speculum 
Historiale. 


N. 


Mother  recognizes  and  speaks  to 
her  children  before  meeting  her 
husband. 


Cifar,  Kashmiri, 

Shah  Bekht,     Eng.  Gesta. 


O. 


Heroine  meets  husband  J    Estoria, 
first.  I   Chronica, 

I  Gute  Frau, 


Wilhelm  von  Wenden, 
Speculum  Historiale, 
Ysam  brace. 


Those  stories  which  are  not  included  in  either  of  these  last 
enumerations  are  of  various  solutions.  In  certain  of  them,  as  in 
Helhie,  or  the  Greek  type,  as  Dirce,  the  recognition  is  brought 
about  by  means  of  the  children  ;  there  is  no  consistency,  however, 
observed  which  would  permit  any  classification. 

Throughout  these  various  tables  it  will  be  noticed  that  the  Dit, 
the  Esloria  and  the  Chronica  always  appear  together,  and  with 
them  usually  follow  the  Gute  Frau  and  Wilhelm  von  Wenden, 
except  in  G,  under  the  heading  of  customs  tax.     The  variations 


12  The  Poem  Guillaume  d'Anglderre. 

between  the  Dlt  and  Estoria  have  already  been  noted.  The  two 
compositions,  in  places,  are  so  alike  that  one  might  be  a  transla- 
tion of  the  other;  but  in  the  solution  of  the  treasure  theme,  the 
two  are  quite  different.  In  the  close  of  this  incident,  the  Dit  is 
unique  in  its  treatment,  as  the  purse  of  gold  is  returned  from  the 
clouds  without  visible  agency.  This  ending,  therefore,  must  be  the 
variation  from  the  original  introduced  by  the  individual  mind  that 
reworked  this  material  for  the  Dit.  In  the  Estoria,  the  purse  is 
returned  through  a  fight  between  two  eagles,  twenty  years  after 
the  money  was  taken.  This  same  incident  occurs  in  the  Gute 
Frau,  where  the  purse  is  dropped  at  the  feet  of  the  heroine  by  a 
fight  between  two  eagles.  To  account  for  this  similarity  between 
the  Gute  Frau  and  the  Estoria,  and  for  the  difference  between  the 
Gute  Frau  and  the  Dit,  the  former  must  be  an  adaptation  of  some 
original  on  which  the  Estoria  and  Dit  both  drew  for  their  material 
for  the  events  to  which  I  have  just  referred. 

The  incident  of  the  sons  attacking  the  father  as  he  is  hunting  is 
omitted  in  the  Gute  Frau^  as  it  seems  peculiar  to  this  poem  that, 
by  reason  of  the  slight  change  of  plot  which  the  adapter  permitted 
himself,  there  was  no  opportunity  for  this  means  of  recognition 
between  father  and  sons.  This  appears,  however,  in  Wilhelm  von 
Wenden,  and  binds  the  poem  to  this  group  which  I  am  now  dis- 
cussing, but  especially  to  the  Dit.  The  date  at  which  the  German 
poem  was  written,  as  well,  indicates  that  the  author,  Ulrich  von 
Eschenbach,  probably  drew  on  the  Dit  for  his  material," 

The  Chronica  also  must  have  drawn  on  the  same  original  as 
the  Gute  Frau  and  the  Dit,  or  possibly  it  may  be  traced  to  the 
Estoria.  The  Chronica  is  much  elaborated,  and  introduces  a  long 
drawn  scries  of  events  before  the  story  of  Guilfaunie  d'Aiu/letenx 
commences,  and  adds  several  statements  at  the  close  of  the  work 
wiiich  are  not  found  elsewhere.  The  second  half  of  the  treasure 
theme,  moreover,  is  omitted,  as  the  j)ur.se  is  dropped  in  the  sea  by 
the  bird  of  prey,  and  is  not  recovered.  It  is  |)ossible  that  the 
material  for  the  Chronica  was  taken  from  the  Estoria,  but  in  view 
of  the  many  minor  differences^  between  the  two,  the  inference  is 
that  the  narrative  drew  from  some  older  source  as  well. 

'  Wolf,  F.  A. —  Uher  die  Neuealen  LeinlwKjeii,  ojius  cilai.,  pp.  7.5-1)0.    Wieii,  1833. 
*Goedeke,  K. — (Jrundrm.  ''Knubt,  H. — Doa  Oln-us,  op.  cit. 


The  Poem  Guillaume  d' Angleterre. 


13 


The  Graf  von  Savoien,  wliicli  is  tlic  (liinl  of  the  cognate  German 
poems,  must  have  levied  on  the  Dil  group  for  its  material.  The 
author  states  that  he  drew  from  the  French,  and  the  motif  follow 
out  the  1)U,  except  that  the  childreu,  and  all  incident  based  on 
their  participation  in  the  narrative,  is  omitted.  The  treasure  theme 
shows  the  same  conclusion  that  appears  in  the  Chronica;  that  is, 
the  money  is  lost  in  the  sea  and  not  recovered.  From  the  supposi- 
titious date  assigned  the  work,'  the  original  must  have  been  the 
poem  of  GuUlaume  d' Angleterre  or  a  similar  poem.  The  scheme 
for  these  six  versions  would  be  as  follows : 


Original  Text. 


Graf  /.  Sa\/oien'. 


Octavian  and  Hel^ne  and  Fioravante  are  embraced  by  that 
division  where  the  heroine  is  the  principal  actor.^  This  branch  of 
the  motifs  forms  a  family  by  itself,  and  is  related  to  the  group 
immediately  preceding  only  by  the  second  motif — that  of  the 
exposure  in  the  forest.  As  I  have  previously  noted,^  the  earliest 
appearance  of  the  Helhie  story  is  in  Matthew  Paris'  Chronicle, 
where  it  is  believed  to  have  been  written  by  Jean  de  la  Celle,  in 
the  eleventh  century.^  The  earliest  appearance  in  mediaeval  litera- 
ture of  the  one  child  in  place  of  twins  is  in  La  Manekine,^  and 


'  Eschenbiirg,  J.  J. — DenkmcUer  AUdeulscher  Dichtkunst,  pp.  341-362.    Bremen, 
1799.     Fourteenth  Century. 
-'  See  Table  B.  » See  page  59. 

*  Paris,  M. — Chronica  Major,  edited  by  Wats.     Cp.  Suchier,  H. — Oeuvres  de 
Beaumannir,  p.  xxv.     Paris,  1884.     In  Wats'  ed.,  pp.  965-968. 

*  Suchier,  H. — Oeuvres  Poeliques  de  Beaumanoir,  I.     Paris,  1884. 


14  The  Poem  Guillaume  d^ Angleterre. 

from    this   poem    the   idea   drifted    elsewhere,   as   in  Eglamour,^ 

Sibilla^  Triamour.^ 

The  tone  of  this  branch  of  stories  is  quite  different  from  the 

other  type,  in  which  the   hero  is  the  principal  actor,  and  I  am 

driven  to  the  conclusion  that  the  two  ideas  must  have  developed 

side  by  side  in  romantic  literature,  and  also  before  the  time  of 

chivalry.     On  one  hand,  the  idea  of  the  oppressed  woman,  and  on 

the  other,  the  notion  of  the  man  tried  by  fate.     The  central  motif 

for  each  would  be  the  exposure  of  the  heroine  in  the  forest,  with 

or  without  her  husband,  as  the  case  might  be,  and  around  this 

as  a  nucleus  gathered  the  various  introductions  and  conclusions. 

These  stories,  therefore,  Hd^ne  and  Odavian,  together  with  their 

related   tales,  I  shall   not   connect   immediately   with    the  other 

branch  of  this  large  family.     The  individual  scheme  would  be  as 

follows  : 

ORIGINAL. 

Tif/i'ns  3f-  3  i>////$  motif. 


To  pass  to  the  English  versions,  the  three  chivalrous  romances, 
Bir  Ysambrace,  Sir  Eylamour  of  Artou,  and  Sir  Torrent ,  were 
probably  translated  from  the  French.*  Steinbach  °  concludes  that 
the  author  of  Ysambrace  does  not  draw  from  the  epic  Guillaume 
(T Angleterre,  but  from  an  original  which  resembles  more  closely 
the  Eustache   legend.      He   does    not   say  in    what   tongue   this 

'Halliwell,  J.  O. — Tkornlon  Romances.     Lonilon,  1844. 
-See  page  69.  'See  pjige  200. 

■•See  Adam,  E. —  Torrent  of  Porlyngale.     IntrodiU'tion.     London,  1887. 
*  Steinbach,  J. — Der  Einjluss  des  (Jreslien  de  Troiea  auf  die  AUenglisehe  Literaiur, 
Leipzig,  1886. 


The  Poem  Guillaume  <V Anrfleterre.  16 

original  was  written.  It  is  more  than  probable  that  the  work 
from  which  the  author  of  Ysainbraee  drew  was  the  source  from 
wiiich  the  author  of  the  D'd  drew  his  material,  or  else  derived 
with  this  source  from  a  common  parent.  Direct  derivation  from 
the  Dit  is  impossible,  on  account  of  the  difTeronce  in  incident;  in 
the  capture  of  the  wife  in  Ysambrace,  after  the  children  have  been 
taken,  and  in  the  fate  of  the  children,  which  is  so  radically 
different  in  the  two  texts.'  The  influence  of  the  Eiujlish  Genta, 
or  of  the  original  of  the  Engliah  Gesta,  is  to  be  seen,  in  that  the 
children  are  taken  before  the  wife,  and  in  the  introductory  motif 
of  Ysambrace.  For  it  will  be  remembered  that  in  the  English 
Gestn  the  mother  recognizes  her  children  towards  the  close  of  the 
narrative,  as  she  hears  them  talking  of  their  past  adventures.  The 
fact  is  practically  impossible,  because  the  mother  is  the  first  one  of 
the  family  to  be  taken,  and  would  know  nothing  of  the  doings  of 
the  rest  of  the  family  until  she  had  conferretl  with  the  hero,  as 
she  does  in  the  Speculum  Historiale.  In  the  English  Gesta,  the 
mother  recognizes  and  speaks  to  the  children  before  communi- 
cating with  the  hero,  as  well  as  in  Shnh  Bekht  and  Cifar,  but  in 
these  last  two  the  children  are  taken  before  the  abduction  of  the 
mother.  The  story  of  Eustace  in  the  English  Gesta  shows  the 
influence  of  the  Latin  story  of  Placidas  in  the  theft  of  the 
children  before  the  mother  is  taken,  and  in  the  adventures  of  the 
mother.  By  reason  of  the  treasure  theme  which  appears  in 
Ysambrace,  I  believe  that  this  poem  must  be  more  closely  con- 
nected with  the  Anglo-Norman  group  than  with  the  English  Gesta 
version  ;  yet  the  points  of  resemblance  between  Ysambrace  and 
the  English  Gesta — as,  for  example,  the  introductory  motif — prove 
a  certain  relation  between  them.  The  choice  of  one  of  the  animals 
in  Ysambrace,  a  lioness,  shows  a  suggestion  of  Odavian,  as  in  this 
romance  and  Cifar  alone  a  lioness  figures  as  captor  of  one  of  the 
children.  In  my  scheme,  I  place  Ysambrace  as  drawn  from  the 
same  source  as  the  Anglo-Norman  romance  which  I  believe  must 
have  been  the  direct  source  of  the  Dit  and  Estoria.  The  source 
once  removed  which  was  a  Latin  version,  presumably  would  be 
the  origin  of  the  Anglo-Latin  Gesta  from  which  the  English  Gesta 

>  See  pages  184,  12. 


16  The  Poem  Guillaume  d'Angleterre. 

was  taken.  The  variations  in  Ysambrace  from  the  norm,  as  the 
three  children  and  the  irregular  conclusion,  which  I  have  just 
noted,  must  have  been  the  work  of  the  individual  author. 

The  two  romances,  Eglamour  and  Torrent,  were  both  presum- 
ably taken  from  French  originals.^  Both  of  these  English  texts 
impel  one  to  the  conclusion  that  they  were  written  on  a  general 
imitation  of  other  popular  poems  of  the  time.  The  middle  episode 
of  Torrent  is  that  of  La  belle  H^lhie,  and  that  of  Eglamour  cor- 
responds to  La  Manekine,  with  the  addition  of  an  animal  that 
carries  off  the  child.  The  introductory  episode  of  Torrent  and 
Eglamour  brings  the  reworking  down  to  chivalrous  times,  when 
the  knight  performed  deeds  of  valor  in  order  to  gain  his  lady. 
The  conclusion  of  Torrent  is  nearer  Octavian,  and  that  of  Egla- 
mour approaches  Sir  Dagore  or  Pope  Gregory.  All  are  familiar 
themes  brought  together  in  a  novel  order.  Therefore,  I  should 
place  these  two  poems  in  the  late  Anglo-Norman  period,  under 
the  general  influence  of  the  more  popular  romances  of  the  HeUne- 
Octavian  type.  The  incidents  which  have  become  grouped  around 
Beuve  d'Hanston  probably  collected  in  the  same  general  manner, 
and  at  the  earlier  period  of  the  Anglo-Norman  florescence,  because 
the  resemblances  between  this  epic  and  other  poems  of  the  class 
that  I  am  dealing  with  are  too  vague  to  permit  any  direct  deriva- 
tion. The  incidents  which  are  collected  in  the  Italian  versions 
are  taken  from  the  French,^  and  I  place  them  in  the  scheme 
accordingly. 

The  treasure  theme,  as  I  have  observed,  does  not  appear  in  the 
English  Gesta,  but  is  found  in  Ysambrace  and  all  others  of  the 
stories  which  I  have  now  handled,  except  the  Helhie-Odavian 
group.  To  account  for  this  fact,  the  treasure  tnotif  must  have 
been  introduced  into  the  source  of  the  former  versions.  This  was 
undoubtedly  done  by  the  poet,  who  reworked  his  poem  in  the 
West,  after  borrowing  his  material  from  P^astern  stores,  and  intro- 
duced the  treasure  motif  to  add  to  the  interest  of  liis  plot.  The 
treasure  motif  does  not  occur  in  combination,  in  this  manner,  in 
any  of  the  Eastern  romances  which   I    have  found,  nor  in  Cifar. 

'See  E.  Adam. —  Torrent,  op.  dial.     Introduction. 

*D'Ancona,  A. — /  Rmli  di  Francia.     Coll.  di  Op.  inod.  o  casi.    Bologne,  1S72. 


The  Poem  Gui/laume  (V Anglelerre.  17 

In  the  introduction  to  Cijnr,  tlic  author  nicntion.s  that  he  trans- 
lated from  the  Latin,  and  that  the  Latin  was  taken  from  the 
Caldco}  Michelaut  believes  that  Ca/dco  refers  to  the  Greek,  a 
supposition  which  is  probable.  The  narrative  as  found  in  Spanish 
has  been  undoubtedly  changed  somewhat  under  the  influence  of 
French  romances,  as  Ftorent  and  Odavlan,  and  others,  in  spite  of 
the  remark  in  the  introduction.  The  incident  of  the  loss  of  the 
children  in  Cifar,  where  one  child  strays  away  and  is  lost  in  the 
streets  of  the  town,  is  the  same  that  occurs  in  the  Menaechmi,  and 
hence  is  also  found  in  the  Greek  original.  This  disposition  of  one 
of  the  children  is  made  in  tiiese  two  places  only.  The  adventures 
of  the  wife  in  Cifar,  and  the  divine  aid  furnished  to  her,  came 
into  the  story,  I  surmise,  when  it  assumed  Latin  dress.  The 
manner  in  which  the  heroine  is  freed  from  the  sailors  who  have 
captured  her  corresponds  to  the  same  incident  in  the  Chronica.  I 
shall  derive  this  version  from  the  Greek,  from  a  common  source 
with  the  original  of  Plautus'  comedy,  and  from  this  same  source, 
ias  well  as  from  an  analogous  form  of  the  story,  may  be  taken 
the  adventures  which  clustered  around  the  personage  of  the 
knight  Placidas  at  the  time  that  his  life  was  compiled  for  the 
3Ienologies. 

The  motif  of  the  injured  woman,  of  the  exposure  in  the  open 
air,  and  of  the  birth  of  twins,  was  common  in  Greek  literature, 
and  was  adopted  for  several  well-known  heroines.^  This  idea 
must  have  been  prevalent,  therefore,  as  a  tradition,  and  must 
reach  back  to  a  period  when  writing  was  not  yet  practiced. 

The  motif  of  incest  between  father  and  daughter  is  found  in  the 
Greek  story  of  ApoUonius  of  Tyre,  and  I  believe  that  this  branch 
of  the  versions,  which  is  represented  by  Helbie  and  Octavian,  took 
shape  in  late  Greek  literature,  and  that  from  this  it  was  carried 
West,  where  it  appeared  as  the  Vita  Offae,  Hel^ne,  and  in  other 
reworkings.  I  fail  to  discover  any  trace  of  this  type  for  the  East, 
except  a  suggestion  in  the  Hindoo,  to  which  I  shall  refer  later, 
and  can  follow  it  to  Greece  only.  The  Hel^ne- Octavian  variety, 
therefore,  would  assume  the  following  scheme : 

'  Michelant,  \i.—t'avalkro  Cifar.    Tubingen,  1872. 
^  Danae,  Tyro,  Antiope. 


18 


The  Poem  Guillaume  d^ Angleterre. 


GREICK    ORIGINAL 


Torrent  \''''  _      .  £^/gmour. 


The  legendary  forms  of  the  exposure  found  in  Danae,  Latona, 
Dirce,  Tyro,  Rhea  Sylvia, .are  sporadic  forms  of  this  tradition. 
Rhea  Sylvia  is  taken  into  Latin  myth  directly  from  the  Greek. 
The  frequency  of  the  repetition,  and  the  prevalence  in  Greek  fable 
of  this  motif,  point  conclusively  to  its  long  use  as  a  part  of  the 
inherited  lore  of  the  people. 

Of  the  two  Arabian  versions.  The  King  Who  Lost  Kingdom  and 
Wife  and  Wealth,  and  The  Unfortunate  Mei^ehant,  I  shall  consider 
the  second  before  the  other.  The  story  occurs  in  a  collection  called 
the  Ten  Viziers,  which  is  found  in  the  Arabian  Nights}  This 
collection  is  one  imitated  from  the  book  of  Sindibad.  It  differs 
from  the  latter,  however,  in  that,  although  the  wife  of  the  king 
accuses  the  king's  son  of  undue  familiarity  with  her,  the  young 
man  tells  the  stories  himself,  and  the  ten  viziers  speak  against 
him.  The  collection  is  also  known  as  the  Bakhtyar  Nama. 
Although  tiie  story  found  in  the  edition  of  Mr.  Clouston  differs 
somewhat  from  Burton's  translation,  it  is  the  same  in  ej)isode,  so 
the  discrepancies  are  probably  due  to  the  different  translators. 
The  Bakhtyar  Nama  exists  in  four  versions,- — Persian,  Arabic, 
Turki  (i.  e.,  Eastern  Turkish-Nygur),  and  Malay.     The  name  of 

'See  Bihliof^raphy  for  Arabian  NiyhLs,  p.  288. 
*  Clouston,  W.  A. — Bakhtyar  Nama,  p.  xxxv. 


The  Poem  Guillaiime  (V Anglclerre.  19 

the  author  of  this  romance  and  the  precise  time  when  it  was  com- 
posed are  not  i<nown.  The  mannscripts  do  not  appear  to  date 
back  of  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century,  but  from  internal 
evidence  the  Turki  version  must  have  been  copied,  A.  H.  838  or 
A.  D.  1434,  and  the  translation  probably  antedated  this  time. 
Oidy  popular  works  would  be  transcribed,  so  the  Persian  romance 
of  Prince  Backhtyar  was  composed  not  later  than  the  fourteenth 
century.  Two  of  the  tales  in  the  collection  are  the  same  as  two  in 
the  Guti  Nama,  which  was  a  translation  from  the  Persian  of  an 
older  work  in  Sanscrit.' 

After  a  brief  discussion  of  the  relations  which  these  four  ver- 
sions above  mentioned  bear  to  one  another,  Mr.  Clouston  concludes 
as  follows  :^ 

"  I  am  disposed  to  believe  that  the  Turki  translation  was  made 

from  the  Arabic If,  then,  the  Turki  version,  which  dates 

as  far  back  as  A.  D.  1434,  was  made  from  the  Arabic,  and  if  the 
latter  was  translated  or  adapted  from  the  Persian,  it  is  not  unlikely 
that  the  History  of  the  Ten  Viziers  in  its  Arabian  dress  existed 
some  time  before  the  Book  of  the  Thousand  Nights  and  One  Night 
was  composed  in  its  present  form ;  and,  therefore,  the  Persian  ver- 
sion may  be  very  ancient.  And  since  we  have  discovered  that  two 
of  the  stories  exist  in  a  work  which  is  of  Sanscrit  origin,  we  may 
go  a  step  farther  and  suppose  the  other  stories  in  the  romance  of 
Bahhtyar  to  have  been  also  derived  from  Indian  sources." 

The  story  of  The  King  Who  Lost  Kingdom  and  Wife  and  Wealth 
is  also  found  in  substance  in  the  Bahhtyar  Nama,  or  the  Ten  Viziers, 
as  the  story  of  Abu  Saber  ;  in  the  Arabian  Nights,  this  is  written 
Abu  Sabir.  In  this  story,  the  hero  is  driven  from  home,  with  his 
wife  and  children,  by  an  unfriendly  king.  Robbers  meet  them 
and  carry  away  the  two  boys.  The  wife  is  carried  off  by  another 
robber  later,  and  the  hero  is  employed  as  a  servant.  He  is  chosen 
king  by  chance,  and  to  his  audience  chamber  came  first  his  two 
boys,  as  slaves,  and  then  his  wife.  He  recognizes  them  from  the 
stories  they  tell,  acknowledges  them,  and  punishes  their  captors. 
The  plot  of  this  is  practically  the  same  as  the  story  of  the  king 

'  Pertsch,  L.  K.  W. — Deutsche  Morgetildndisehe  Gesellschafi.     Zeitschrift,  XXI, 
p.  505.     Leipzig,  1867.     "  Ueber  Nachschabis  Papagaienbuch." 
'Clouston,  W.  A. — Bakhtyar  Nama,  p.  Li. 


20  The  Poem  Guillaume  d' Angleterre. 

previously  mentioned,  occurring  in  the  collection  known  as  King 
Shah  Bekht  and  His  Vizier  Er  Rehwan.  The  origin  for  both, 
therefore,  must  go  back  of  the  Bahhtyar  Nama,  and  consequently 
draw  for  its  source,  in  all  probability,  on  the  collection  of  stories 
which  furnishes  the  other  tales  for  the  Ten  Viziers. 

The  stories  which  appear  in  the  various  provinces  in  the  East, 
which  1  call  the  Kashmiri  version,  the  Panjabi  version,  etc., 
resemble  one  another  closely,  especially  the  Kashmiri  and  Panjabi 
versions,  which  must  have  drawn  on  one  original  or  else  one 
borrowed  of  the  other,  as  the  incident  of  the  man  swallowed  by  a 
sea  monster  occurs  in  both  and  not  elsewhere.  In  other  respects 
the  Hebrew  version  resembles  these,  with  a  few  minor  variations ; 
as,  for  example,  the  fact  that  the  hero  is  a  merchant  in  the 
Hebrew  text,  and  when  left  alone,  becomes  a  ruler  by  building 
himself  a  city,  and  not  by  popular  choice,  as  elsewhere.  The 
Panjabi  and  Hebrew  agree  in  the  self-restraint  of  the  queen  upon 
overhearing  the  young  men,  her  sons,  as  they  converse,  and  in  the 
ruse  that  she  employs  to  gain  a  hearing  of  the  king.  The  immedi- 
ate declaration  of  the  queen's  identity  in  the  Kashmiri  version  is 
paralleled  in  the  Shah  Bekht.  I  should,  for  these  considerations, 
derive  the  Kashmiri,  Panjabi  and  Hebreic  versions  ultimately  from 
one  source,  but  the  Panjabi  version  I  should  infer  had  been  influ- 
enced by  the  Kashmiri  version,  or  its  immediate  source,  in  the  fish 
episode.  The  Thibetan  story  I  place  in  the  general  tyj)e,  as  deriv- 
ing from  an  Arabic  tale,  but  used  as  a  vehicle  for  Buddhism.^ 

Most  of  the  Eastern  stories  which  I  have  collected,  therefore, 
I  have  carried  back  to  the  old  Persian,  yet  there  is  something 
behind  this.  In  the  Hindoo  legend,  the  story  is  found  adapted  to 
the  needs  of  the  narrative.^  Consequently,  the  origin  must  lie  in 
the  Sanscrit  itself.  There  is  another  reason  which  supports  this 
belief.  In  the  seventh  book  of  the  Ramayana,  the  hero,  Rama, 
becomes  dubious  about  his  wife  Sita's  virtue,  and  has  her  banished 
to  the  forest,  where  she  is  received  and  cared  for  by  a  hermit. 
There  the  queen  gives  birth  to  twin  boys.  The  children  grow  up 
and  become  expert  rhapsodists.  They  came  to  their  father's  court 
in  their  wanderings,  and  by  chance  recite  to  him  his  own  exploits. 

'See  Clouston  in  Burton's  SuppUmenlal  Ni<jhts.     Appendix,  ]>.  .S51. 
*  Compare  page  313. 


The  I'uem  G'uillduinc  (V Anylelcrre.  21 

He  is  overcome,  and  on  questioning  thetn,  learns  of  their  extrac- 
tion, and  receives  his  wife  back  to  his  affections.'  The  seventh 
book  of  the  Rumayana  is  now  supposed  to  be  somewhat  later  in 
composition  than  the  rest  of  the  poem,  and  yet  this  portion  must 
have  been  added  before  the  epic  assumed  its  final  written  shape. 
According  to  Gorrcsio,  the  liero  Rama  lived  in  the  thirteenth 
century  before  our  era.  The  poem  was  undoiihtcdly  known  and 
recited  before  it  was  written,  and  must  have  been  known  in  the 
eleventh  century  l)efore  Christ,  as  a  resume  of  the  same  is  found 
in  the  MahabharcUa  of  that  date.  M.  Williams,'  who  is  most 
cautious  in  his  statements,  declares  that  the  Raviayand  was  current 
in  India  in  the  fifth  century  before  Christ,  which  at  least  would 
preclude  the  admission  of  the  episode  in  the  seventh  book  from  a 
source  other  than  the  Sanscrit. 


'  Williams,  M. — Ramayana — Tntlian  Epic  Poetry,  p.  3.     London,  1863. 
Journal  Asiatique,  4  S^rie,  Vol.  II,  p.  249.     Paris,  1843. 
Schlegel,  A.  G.  <le. — Journal  Asial.,  op,  ciL,  p.  251. 


22 


The  Poem  Ghiillaume  d' Angleterre. 


Skeleton  Showing  a  Theoretical  Order  of  Derivation. 


The  Poem  Guillaume  <V Angleterre,  23 


Application  of  the  Scheme. 

In  order  to  see  how  far  tiiis  scheme  will  hold  if"  reversed  in 
process,  I  shall  start  with  the  Sanskrit  and  trace  the  development 
of  the  myth.  The  original  version  was  possii)ly  of  the  following 
gist: 

A  Type:  The  hero  is  subjected  to  trial  by  the  will  of  heaven, 
and  is  forced  to  flee  from  home.  His  wife  gives  birth  to  twins 
(or  a  child)  in  the  forest.  The  children  and  wife  are  carried  away 
in  turn,  and  the  hero  lives  unhappily  alone  for  a  number  of  years. 
Finally,  the  family  is  reunited.  By  the  side  of  this  story  must 
have  existed  another  variety  : 

B  Type:  The  heroine  is  driven  away  from  home  by  her  hus- 
band or  some  enemy,  and  gives  birth  to  twins  (or  a  child)  in  the 
forest.     Finally,  the  husband  finds  her  and  the  family  is  reunited. 

The  twin  side  of  the  A  type  appears  in  the  Ramayana  dating 
from  the  ninth  century  before  Christ,  as  I  place  the  introduction 
of  the  episode  at  a  later  date  than  the  supposed  era  when  the  hero 
lived,^  and  was  translated  into  the  Pahlavi  in  the  third  century 
A.  D.,  perhaps.  The  single  child,  A  type,  appears  in  the  Hindoo'' 
in  a  form  of  narrative  which  is  placed  in  the  ninth  century  A.  D.^ 
I  should  be  tempted  to  connect  this  with  the  Old  Persian  were  it 
not  for  the  form  of  story  in  which  it  occurs  is  distinctively 
Indian,*  and  also  because  there  is  no  instance  of  the  one  child  type 
in  the  Pahlavi,  which  would  seem  conclusive.  The  Pahlavi,  then, 
takes  the  hero  disciplined  by  fate,  with  his  subsequent  adventures, 
from  the  Sanskrit.  This  story  is  taken  into  the  Arabic  in  at  least 
two  different  ways  :  first,  in  the  Arabic  version  from  which  the 
different  dialects,  as  the  Panjab,  Cashmere,  Hebreto,  drew  for  their 
adaptations ;  and  in  the  collection  of  stories  known  as  the  2en 
Viziers,  or  King  Azad  Bekht  and  His  Son.  The  first  type  was 
that  of  the  king  exiled  by  fate,  and  separated  from  wife  and  sons. 

'  See  page  379.  'See  page  313  el  sq. 

^  Dasakumaracharitam,  p.  in.    London,  1873.     (Translated  by  P.  W.  Jacobs.) 
*For  examiile:  before  one  story  (1)  is  ended,  another  (2)  is  begun,  and  before 
this  is  finished  another  (3),  springing  out  of  the  second,  is  commenced;  then  out 
of  (3)  springs  yet  another  story,  which  ended,  number  3  is  resumed  and  brought 
to  an  end  ;  then  number  2,  after  which  number  1  is  resumeii  and  concluded. 


24  The  Poem  Guillaume  d' Anglderre. 

After  much  wandering,  he  again  becomes  a  monarch,  and  recovers 
his  sons,  who  have  come  to  his  court  by  cliance,  and  his  wife  as 
well,  who  has  preserved  her  virtue.  All  of  the  stories  which  I 
derive  from  this  hypothetical  Arabian  story  present  these  peculi- 
arities. In  all  of  them,  also,  the  twins  are  born  before  the  royal 
pair  set  out  on  their  exile.  There  is  cross  correspondence  in 
certain  respects,  which  I  place  to  oral  transmission  or  perhaps 
intentional  variation.  Tiie  Shah  Bekht  version  and  the  Kashmiri 
version  correspond,  in  that  the  hero  in  both  is  chosen  king  by  an 
elej)hant.  The  Kashmiri  and  Punjab  versions  correspond,  in  that 
the  hero  in  both  is  swallowed  by  a  fish.  The  Thibetan  version 
bears  a  general  resemblance  to  this  type  of  story,  and,  I  believe, 
must  have  been  produced  in  unconscious  imitation  of,  or  in  delib- 
erate variation  from,  this  tyj)e.  I  incline  to  the  latter  alternative, 
because  the  reversed  resemblance  is  marked  :  the  de})arture  from 
home  of  hero  and  heroine;  the  birth  of  one  child;  the  taking  of 
the  Ae?'o  ;  the  loss  and  death  of  the  children  ;  the  violation  of  the 
heroine.  The  story  is  the  same,  except  that  the  outcome  in  each 
instance  is  unfortunate  instead  of  satisfactory,  and  only  till  the 
unhappy  heroine  takes  refuge  in  religion  does  she  find  rest.  I 
should,  therefore,  consider  this  version  modeled  on  the  general 
type,  but  intentionally  perverted  to  convey  a  moral  lesson.  The 
Hebrew  version  is  of  the  general  type  A,  taken  from  tiie  putative 
Arabian  text,  except  that  the  hero  is  not  a  king  originally,  but  a 
merchant,  and  an  angel  cheers  him  as  he  grows  despondent,  which 
would  show  Jewish  influence. 

The  Turkish  version  is  said  to  have  been  composed  during  the 
reign  of  Sultan  Murad  II,  between  1421  and  1451,'  after  an 
Arabian  romance  entitled,  Tales  of  the  Fortij  Morni)i(/s  and  Forty 
Evenings,  composed  by  Shekh  Zada.  The  text  from  which  Petit 
de  la  Croix  translated  ^  varies  from  the  manuscript  used  by  Mr. 
Gebb,  in  that  the  prince  finds  his  wife  again  at  the  end  of  the 
story,  together  with  his  sons.  This  is  nearer  the  tradition  than 
the  other  adaptation,  in   which  the  wife  is  not  recovered.      The 

'Clouston,  W.  A. — Bakhtyar  Nama,  p.  xxx.     London,  18S3. 

Gebb,  E.  J.  W. — History  of  the  Forty  Vizicm,  p.  viii.     London,  18SG. 
^  L' Ilintoire  de  la  Sultune  de  Perse  €t  den  Vizirs.     Paris,  1722.     See  Clouston. 

Bdkhhjar  Nama,  p.  xxx,  op.  r.itut.  ;  also  (Jcbb,  Forty  Vizivrs,  j).  VIII,  op.  citat. 


The  Poem  GuiUaumc  d' Anr/lcterre.  25 

Arabic  version  from  wliirh  the  Turkish  translator  drew  must 
liave  varied  t^reatlv  from  the  oriu^iiial  story  in  Arabic,  and  it  is 
probable  that  the  variations  cre[)t  in  as  the  story  was  worked  over 
ag^ain  in  Arabic;  such  variations,  for  example,  as  the  introduction 
of  the  Sindbad  incidents,  and  the  casting  of  the  horoscope.' 

The  story  as  it  appears  in  the  Ten  Viziers  cannot  be  intimately 
connected  with  the  group  which  I  have  just  left,  as  it  differs 
materially  in  many  respects;  the  hero  is  a  merchant,  not  a  king, 
and  does  not  become  a  king,  and  leaves  his  home  on  business.  He 
does  not  lose  his  wife  or  |)roperty,  and  the  wife  passes  through  no 
series  of  adventures.  The  manner  in  which  the  twins  are  lost  is 
also  markedly  different  from  the  other  Eastern  type,  as  the  father 
throws  them  into  the  sea.  The  story  of  ^6u  Sabir  is  much  nearer 
the  general  mould,  and  this  has  a  place  in  the  Ten  Viziers,  as  well 
as  the  story  of  the  Merchant.  The  outline  of  Abu  Saber,  as  will 
be  remembered,  conforms  to  the  A  ty))e.  The  hero,  with  wife  and 
two  sons,  is  driven  from  home  ;  his  wife  is  abducted  ;  his  sons  are 
taken  away;  he  is  obliged  to  work  as  a  servant;  but  finally  he  is 
chosen  king,  and  recovers  his  wife  and  children  by  chance.  It  is 
improbable  that  the  compiler  of  the  collection,  the  Ten  Viziers, 
would  have  incorporated  in  his  work  two  stories  so  alike  when 
there  were  so  many  to  choose  from,  whereas  in  a  copy  he  would 
have  been  allowed  no  alternative;  yet,  if  selections  were  made 
from  Arabic  stories  for  the  compilation,  the  ultimate  source  must 
have  been  Persian,  as  several  of  the  stories  in  the  Ten  Viziers 
must  have  occurred  in  the  older  Persian  work  from  which  the 
Guti  Nama  drew,  as  certain  stories  actually  are  paralleled  in  the 
latter,  and  this  Persian  source,  acc(n'ding  to  Pertsch,^  was  based 
on  an  older  Sanskrit  authority.  The  stories,  therefore,  in  the  Ten 
Viziers,  which  conform  to  the  type  which  I  have  under  considera- 
tion, may  be  derived  from  the  Persian.  The  translations  of  the 
Bakhtyar  Nama,^  or  Ten  Viziers,  found  in  the  late  Persian,  Malay 
and  Turki,  must  have  drawn  on  the  Arabic,  as  no  other  redaction 
of  the  work  would  be  as  widely  known,  and  moreover,  the  cor- 
respondence in  the  order  and  selection  of  stories  would  establish 
the  same. 

'  See  comment  on  treatment  of  themes,  p.  309.  *  Compare  note  1,  p.  26. 

'See  Clouston. — Bakhtyar  Nama,  Introduction,  op.  cifat. 

3 


26  The  Poem  Guillaume  d^ Angleterre. 

To  pass  to  the  Western  versions.  It  is  my  belief  that  the 
Arabic  version  of  these  themes  of  the  man  tried  by  fate,  and  of 
the  woman  and  twins  exposed  in  the  forest,  must  have  traveled 
West  at  the  end  of  the  tenth  or  in  the  first  half  of  the  eleventh 
century.  It  was  then  combined  with  the  treasure  theme,  which 
was  already  known  in  Christendom,  and  written  out  in  poetical 
form.  My  reasons  for  taking  this  direct  from  the  East,  and  not 
tracing  its  path  through  Greek  and  Roman  hands,  are  as  follows : 
In  all  of  these  versions  which  I  derive  in  this  way  from  a  direct 
Eastern  source,  and  in  the  Arabic  as  well,  is  found  the  motif  of 
the  man  tried  by  God,  and  not  in  the  others,  except  the  Speculum 
Historialey  which  shows  the  same  influence.  (See  Table  A.)  In 
all  of  these  the  mother  is  taken  from  the  party  first,  and  then  the 
children,  as  in  the  Eastern  group  and  Speculum  Historiale,  and 
not  in  the  others.  (See  Table  D.)  In  many  of  these  the  customs 
tax  is  mentioned,  and  in  certain  of  the  Eastern  group  as  well,  but 
not  in  the  others,  (See  Tables  G  and  H.)  The  usage  for  this 
group  is  twin  children  without  exception,  whereas  in  certain  other 
versions  a  variation  is  made.  (See  Tables  I  and  K.)  There  is 
a  variation  in  one  respect,  however,  which  seems  without  easy 
explanation.  In  certain  versions  the  children  are  born  before  the 
exposure  in  the  forest,  and  in  certain  others  the  birth  follows  the 
exile.  (See  Tables  L  and  M.)  In  the  Western  versions,  those 
which  gather  around  the  Dit  show  the  ciiildren  born  after  the 
exile,  and  the  same  change  is  made  in  the  Hindoo  text,  which,  it 
is  believed,  was  written  in  the  ninth  century,^  and  this  date  pre- 
cludes any  idea  of  collaboration  between  the  two.  My  judgment 
would  be  that  the  variation  in  the  time  of  birth — that  is,  the 
children  born  after  the  exposure — was  introduced  by  the  Western 
romancer  when  he  reworked  his  Eastern  material,  which  he 
originally  learned  orally.  It  is  presumable  that  this  optional 
change  existed  in  some  Eastern  form  whicli  I  have  not  found,  and 
from  this  went  into  Hindoo,  for  the  same  variation  in  time  of 
birth  is  noticeable  in  the  Greek  myths.  These  various  considera- 
tions I  should  consider  sufficient  for  deriving  the  Western  versions 
which  collect  around  the  JJit  dc  Guillauuie  Roi  d' Anc/leterre  from 
an  Eastern  source. 

1  See  p.  314. 


The  Poem  Ouilldume  iV AnyleleiTe.  27 

It  seems  to  me  probable  that  tlie  version  in  the  Engliah  Gesta 
also  came  into  being  in  the  same  manner,  through  a  Latin 
medium.  The  English  text  shows  the  variation  of  the  divine 
intimation  by  means  of  a  bird,  and  also  brings  in  tiie  magic 
stone,  which  comes  from  the  Pant.schat(in(ra,^  as  I  have  already 
remarked.  In  the  English  Gesta,  the  mother  recognizes  her  sons 
at  once,  on  hearing  their  conversation,  and  declares  herself,  a  trait 
which  is  peculiar  to  this  special  type.  (See  Tables  N  and  O.)  It 
seems  to  me  a  question  if  the  original  French  version  was  ever 
written,  as  there  is  no  trace  of  it  to-day,  and  decided  variants 
occur  in  the  romances  which  I  suppose  to  have  been  derived  from 
this  source.  Ysambrace  must  have  been  taken  from  this  original 
French  rendering,  for  the  following  reasons :  Ysambrojce  has 
practically  the  same  introduction  as  the  English  Gesta,  which 
would  also  occur  in  this  original  French  adaptation.  Ysambrace 
has  also  the  children  born  before  the  exposure,  as  in  the  EngUsh 
Gesta,  for  the  change  in  time  of  birth,  I  conceive,  was  made  in 
the  Anglo-Norman  work,  and  this  time  for  the  incident  is  kept  in 
the  English  Gesta,  as  in  Ysambrace.  Ysambrace  has  a  variation 
from  the  treasure  theme  which  differs  from  the  others  of  the  group. 

Now,  in  an  Anglo-Norman  reworking  of  the  older  poem  in 
the  twelfth  century,  I  believe  the  following  changes  were  made : 
The  divine  summons  was  repeated  three  times ;  the  children  were 
described  as  born  after  the  exposure ;  the  treasure  theme  was 
changed  somewhat  in  its  conclusion — that  is,  two  eagles  were 
made  to  drop  the  purse  of  gold  as  they  fought  for  it  in  mid-air. 
This  arrangement  was  repeated  in  the  Spanish  Estoria,  in  the 
French  Dit,  with  a  slight  divergence,  and  in  the  Gute  Erau. 
The  Dit  was,  furthermore,  copied  in  Wilhelm  von  Wenden.  The 
Chronica  must  have  come  also  from  the  Anglo-Norman  version, 
as  the  close  of  the  treasure  theme  varies  from  the  Dit  and  Estoria, 
although  the  resemblance  in  episode  between  the  Estoria  and 
Chronica  would  point  to  some  connection  between  the  two. 

The  incidents  as  they  are  found  in  Beuve  came,  I  believe,  by 
attraction,  and  collected  around  a  heroic  figure,  and  I  hesitate  to 
derive  them  directly  from  any  one  source.  These  incidents  were 
proper  adventures  for  a  hero  to  pass  through   in   the  days  of 

'  See  comment  on  English  Gesta,  page  169  et  sq. 


28  The  Poem  Guillaume  d* Angleterre. 

romance,  and  so  were  quietly  assumed  for  Beuve  in  the  Anglo- 
Norman  original  of  this  poem. 

To  pass  to  the  Greek  side  of  the  legend.  From  the  Sanscrit  I 
have  already  assumed  the  two  types  of  the  oppressed  man  and  of 
the  oppressed  woman.  Both  were  kept  in  Greek,  but  the  prefer- 
ence was  for  the  latter,  and  it  appeared  in  mythology  in  the  stories 
of  Danae,  Dlrce,  Latona,  Tyro,  and  in  the  Latin  Rhea  Sylvia, 
taken  from  the  Greek.  These  incidents  lived  on  in  two  forms. 
In  one  it  gave  the  original  of  the  Didymi,  and  also  took  shape 
in  a  Greek  romance  after  the  style  of  Apollonius  of  Tyre.  This 
romance  was  translated  into  Latin,  and  from  there  appeared  in 
French  with  various  elaborations,  as  HU^ne,  Odavian,  and  derived 
also  from  this  general  type  were  Eglamoxir  and  Torrent,  of  which 
the  English  forms  exist.  I  do  not  derive  these  two  romances 
directly  from  any  one  story,  but  consider  them  the  outgrowth  of 
the  romantic  feeling  and  the  incidents  employed  in  chivalrous 
stories,  as  Beuve,  HeUne,  Odavian,  etc.  Torrent  takes  its  twin 
incident  from  Octavian,  while  Eglamour  draws  on  La  Manekine 
for  its  one  child.  The  introduction  of  both  resembles  the  immedi- 
ate introduction  to  the  twin  motif  in  Beuve,  by  which  I  mean  the 
valorous  deeds  of  the  hero  for  his  lady's  sake. 

As  the  Arabian  tale  traveled  westward,  some  trace  was  left 
behind,  probably  at  Constantinople,  and  this  material  was  settled 
on  the  Christian  martyr  in  the  first  decade  of  our  era.  It  was 
written  down  in  menologies,  under  the  life  of  St.  Eustachius,  and 
accredited  to  his  glory  much  as  the  same  adventures  later  were 
grouped  around  Beuve.  Possibly  this  came  across  the  Hellespont, 
and  stopped  definitely  in  Greek  hagiography,  only  to  take  a  fresh 
start  later  at  the  beginning  of  the  crusades  and  travel  to  the 
Atlantic. 

The  twin  motif  the  Greek  preserved  in  the  Didymi,  which  was 
taken  into  the  Latin  in  the  Menaechmi  of  Plautus.  I  am  some- 
what at  a  loss  where  to  place  the  romance  of  Cifar.  In  view  of 
the  incident  of  the  twins,  and  the  manner  in  which  one  is  lost  by 
straying  away  in  the  city  streets,  I  connect  the  history  with  the 
prose  version  from  which  tiie  author  of  the  Didymi  drew  for  his 
comedy.  It  was  translated,  as  the  Spanish  says,  "  de  Caldeo  en 
Latin,  et  de  Latin  en  Romance." 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS  OF  WHOLE  THESIS. 


Preface, — 

Syixabus, — 

F'ART    RIRST. 

Intkoduction, - — 

•Chapter  I. 

WESTERN  VERSIONS. 
Group  I. 

A.  French  Versions. 

1.  Guillaume  d'Angleterre,^      ..--.-  — 

2.  La  Belle  H^lSne, — 

3.  Octavian, — 

4.  Beuve  d'Hanston, — 

Comparative  table  of  motifs  for  the  stories  preceding,    ...        -  — 

B.  German  Versions. 

1.  Die  Gute  Frau, — 

2.  Der  Graf  von  Savoien,         .-..--  — 

3.  Wilhelm  von  Wenden,      -.-.--  — 
Comparative  table  of  motifs  for  the  stories  preceding,     -        -        -        -  — 

C.  Italian  Versions. 

1.  Flora vante  (Reali  di  Francia),          ...        -  — 

2.  Buovo  d'Antona, -  — 

3.  Uggeri  II  Danese, — 

Comparative  table  of  motifs  for  the  stories  preceding,     -         ...  — 

D.  /Spanish  Versions. 

1.  La  Estoria  del  Key  Guillelmo,           ....  — 

2.  La  Chronica  del  Rev  Don  Guillermo,            -        -        -  — 

3.  La  Historia  del  Cavnllero  Cifar,        ....  — 
Comparative  table  of  motifs  for  the  stories  preceding,     -        -         -        -  — 

1  Under  each  title  are  comprised  a  digest  of  the  story  named,  the  motifs  tabulated,  a  comment 
on  the  treatment  of  themes,  and  a  bibliography  of  the  special  subject. 

29 


30  The  Poem  Guillaume  d' Angleterre. 

Group  II. 

A.  English  Versions. 

1.  Gesta  Romanorum  (English  text),    -        -        -        - 

2.  Sir  Ysambrace, 

3.  Sir  Eglamour  of  Artois, 

4.  Sir  Torrent  of  Portyngale, 

Comparative  table  of  motifs  for  the  stories  preceding,         ... 

B.  Latin  Versions. 

1.   Speculum  Historiale,     .-----. 
(This  includes  the  Gesta  Romanorum  and  Legenda 
Aurea. ) 
Group  III. 

CLASSIC  VEESIONS. 

A.  Latin  Version. 

Rhea  Sylvia  Legend,      .-.--.. 

B.  Greek  Versions. 

1.  Danae  Legend, 

2.  Latona  Legend,         ....... 

3.  Dirce  Legend,       -- 

4.  Tyro  Legend, 

Comparative  table  of  motifs  for  the  stories  preceding,     .... 

Chapter  II. 

EASTEEN  VERSIONS. 
Group  I. 

A.  Arabic  Versions. 

1.  Shah  Bekht, 

2.  Ten  Viziers, 

B.  Hebrew  Version. 

Midrasch,       --..-.... 

C.  Turkish  Version. 

The  Forty  Viziers,     .--..--. 
Comparative  table  of  motifs  for  the  stories  preceding,        ... 

Group  II. 

A.  Hindoo  Version. 

1.   Dasakumaracharitam, -        - 

B.  Kashmiri  Version. 

Pride  Abased,        .......'. 

C.  Thibetan  Version. 

Krisa  Gautami,  -...-.-. 

D.  Punjabi  Version. 

Sarwar  and  Nir,     ----.... 
Comparative  table  of  motifs  for  the  stories  preceding,     .... 


The  Poem  Guillaume  d'AngldetTe.  31 

Chapter  III. 

I.   General  comparative  table  of  motifs,           .         .        -        -        -  — 
II.   Discussion  of  the  relation  which  the  various  forms  of  the  legend 

bear  to  one  another,         - — 

III.  Graphic  tree  showinjj  a  theoretical  order  of  derivation,      -         -  — 

IV.  Addenda — The  application  of  the  "tree,"      -        -        -        -        -  — 

F»ART    SECOND. 
Stllabtjs, — 

Iktroduction. 

Discussion  of  Mr.  Muller's  thesis  on  Guillaume  d'Angleterre,        -        -    — 
Chapter  I. 

Dialect  characteristics  of  the  Paris  Manuscript,         ...        -        — 

Chapter  II, 

Dialect  characteristics  of  the  Cambridge  Manuscript,    -        ...    — 

Chapter  III. 

Dialect  characteristics  of  the  forms  common  to  both  Manuscripts,      -         — 

Conclusion. 

Results  drawn  from  the  preceding  treatment, — 


PART    THIRD. 

Appendix. 

Eimarium  of  the  two  Manuscripts,     ... 

Life  of  the  Author, 

Table  of  Contents,      ------ 


I,  Philip  Ogden,  was  born  in  Bath,  Maine,  September  sixth,  1871. 
My  earliest  instruction  was  received  privately  from  members  of  the 
family,  with  whom  a  knowledge  of  the  languages,  both  ancient  and 
modern,  was  considered  an  essential.  Later,  my  final  preparation  for 
college  was  made  at  Cheltenham  Military  Academy,  under  the  Rev. 
Samuel  Clements,  D.  D.  The  summer  of  1890  I  passed  in  Germany, 
carrying  on  my  college  work  in  German,  and  I  graduated  with  the 
degree  of  B.  A.  from  Cornell  University  in  1891,  with  special  mention 
in  Greek,  which  I  took  with  Professor  B.  I.  Wheeler.  While  in 
college,  I  did  extra  work  in  the  Italian  and  French  languages  under 
Professor  T.  F.  Crane.  The  following  September  I  accepted  a  position 
in  the  Shattuck  School  at  Faribault,  Minn.,  as  instructor  of  languages, 
where  I  remained  for  one  year.  In  June,  I  went  to  Paris  and  pursued 
the  study  of  French  for  the  three  months  of  the  vacation,  returning  in 
time  to  fulfil  an  engagement  as  master  in  St.  Paul's  School  at  Concord, 
N.  H.,  where  I  remained  two  years.  The  summer  of  '94  was  again 
spent  in  France,  investigating  French  history  and  questions  of  lan- 
guage. In  the  fall,  I  entered  Johns  Hopkins  University,  selecting  that 
institution  as  most  ably  fitted  to  aid  me  in  my  pursuit  of  the  Romance 
languages.  At  the  close  of  the  first  year  I  again  went  to  Europe, 
making  Florence  my  chief  point,  and  the  study  of  Italian.  Last  year 
I  was  again  abroad,  at  Cambridge,  England,  and  at  Paris,  investigating 
MSS.  connected  with  the  subject  of  my  thesis. 

I  embrace  this  opportunity  to  express  my  grateful  recognition  of 
the  inspiration  and  sympathetic  encouragement  received  from  the  head 
of  the  department  of  Romance  Languages,  Professor  A.  Marshall 
Elliott,  and  of  the  assistance  received  from  the  corps  of  instructors 
gathered  around  him. 


33 


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